Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Alliance Announces the Election of Shirley Mertz as the new Chair and Christine Benjamin as Vice Chair

NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — The MBC Alliance today announced the appointment of Shirley Mertz as the Chair and Christine Benjamin as the Vice Chair beginning November 1. The MBC Alliance is a coalition formed in 2013 by a dozen nonprofit patient advocacy and research organizations, MBC patients and pharmaceutical industry partners who joined together to transform and improve the lives of people living with metastatic breast cancer. Both Mertz and Benjamin are founding members and have been active members of the MBC Alliance. Mrs. Mertz has co-chaired the Alliance’s research task force the last four years, while Ms. Benjamin has co-chaired the information task force. Both serve on the MBC Alliance Executive Group.

Shirley Mertz is the President of the MBC Network, a founding member of the MBC Alliance. Shirley received a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer in 2003, twelve years after being treated for DCIS. After seeking training in the biology of breast cancer and political advocacy, she became a consumer reviewer for Susan G. Komen and the DOD Breast Cancer Research Program and advocate for national health care reform. Shirley will serve as Chair from November 2018 through October 2019.

“Under Dr. Marc Hurlbert’s leadership, the MBC Alliance has made great strides as a coalition. It completed a landscape analysis about MBC, answered key questions about the epidemiology of MBC, galvanized researchers into action, developed tools for patients to find clinical trials and raised awareness about how metastatic disease is different from early breast cancer,” stated Mertz. “I am honored to be elected Chair and will strive to shepherd the Alliance to continue to accelerate progress for people living with metastatic disease.”

Christine Benjamin, LMSW, is the Breast Cancer Program Director at SHARE, a leading patient support organization helping those diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer. Christine leads SHARE’s programming and training, with a particular focus on support services and education for women with metastatic disease, BRCA-gene-related cancers and triple-negative breast cancer. Christine will serve as Vice Chair through October 2019, and then assume the role of Chair for a term of one year.

“As a clinical social worker who has been treated for breast cancer, I actively work to build programs that meet the unique needs of women with advanced disease,” stated Benjamin. “I am honored to serve as Vice Chair and to advance Alliance impact in patient information, education and support, awareness and research.”

About the MBC AllianceThe Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance (MBCA) is a consortium made up of representatives from 32 nonprofit organizations and 11 pharmaceutical/biotech companies, along with 18 individual patient advocates – many of whom are living with MBC. The mission of the MBCA is to improve the lives of, and outcomes for, those living with metastatic breast cancer and their families through increasing awareness and education about the disease and advancing policy and strategic coordination of research funding, specifically focused on metastasis, that has the potential to extend life, enhance quality of life and ultimately to cure.

Learn more about the MBC Alliance at www.mbcalliance.org. For people living with MBC, the Alliance website provides a comprehensive list of organizations, programs and support services focused on meeting the needs of people living with MBC.